The present invention relates to a method of producing inert gas, whereby liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons are burned in a combustion chamber with combustion air, possibly with the admixture of a gaseous atomizing agent (steam, gas, inert gas or air), and to an apparatus for carrying out such method.
Inert gas as produced in accordance with the present method is used predominantly in tank vessels and for transportation purposes for the neutralization of empty tanks and to provide an inert atmosphere within filled tanks. However, such inert gas may be employed also for fire extinction and as a protective gas in the transportation of perishable goods, such as e.g. fish meal, and in cold storage houses and the like.
It is known to produce inert gas by means of a burner in combustion chambers provided with ceramic linings, whereby the gas is thereafter cooled in spray coolers (cooling towers) wherein part of the water is already condensed while the gas is subjected to subsequent drying in a drying system. It is of disadvantage in these conventional methods that the apparatuses employed are rather expensive, that great expenditure of energy is required for the cooling, and that the control is sluggish such that quick shutoff is impossible in most cases and the combustion chamber may be damaged. Further, it has been found to be disadvantageous in the conventional method that maintaining of the desired composition of the inert gas is complicated and that the systems are susceptible to trouble and repair, while repairs can be performed with difficulty only, particularly as far as the combustion chamber is concerned. Besides, the inert gas produced in these systems must be dried by expensive means.
In contrast, it is the object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for carrying out such method, which method and apparatus in general do no longer suffer from the above-mentioned disadvantages and from the disadvantages of the prior art.
In particular, the method according to the present invention can be controllable readily and with minimum sluggishness, while it requires minimum amounts of energy for the drying facilitate the production of an inert gas having the desired composition even in the case of fuel oils of high sulfur content, adapted to be carried out easily and economically and, in particular, allow to employ an apparatus which may be constructed economically and which may be of small size, too. Furthermore, the system can include a simple inert gas drying device adapted to be regenerated rapidly. In addition, the process of cooling the inert gas can be simplified and adapted to be performed also by means of conventional coolers as frequently present onboard ships. Mostly, these coolers are so-called Freon coolers wherein the water is cooled indirectly. Accordingly, the apparatus of the present invention can be of a correspondingly small size and of compact and trouble-proof construction, and this apparatus lends itself particularly for assembling a self-contained unit, such that economical production becomes possible.
According to another object of the invention, the present combustion chamber is adapted to be readily started up and shut off, and is protected against destruction even if trouble in the cooling water supply arises, and this combustion chamber should be adapted to be installed in any position.